Thursday, November 21, 2013

This week's hot concerts

Paint Fumes

Friday 10 p.m., Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St., $5, www.snugrock.com

The Charlotte garage rock trio makes a pit stop during its current national tour - it's first outing since frontman Elijah Von Cramon was hit by a car last winter. According to Von Cramon the frantic garage rock of it's full-length debut is evolving, so catching the band now may give you a reference point to where it's heading. With Temperance League, Free Clinic, and Black Market.

Whether
lumped in with hair metal acts on “Headbanger’s Ball” or loosely aligned with
grunge, the progressive Midwestern trio always had an original sound melding
metal, funk, prog-rock, and soul capped by Doug Pinnick’s church-ready pipes
that garnered the group acclaim from critics and peers.

The
renowned 7-string Russian Romany guitarist, who toured as part of the Kolpakov Trio
on Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour and now calls Charlotte home, joins his
dancer wife and Tatyana Thulien for an evening of gypsy, Eastern European and
Spanish flamenco music and dance.

The
Oxford alt-rock band has spent a lot of time cultivating a fervent US fan base.
It jumped from Evening Muse to The Fillmore in record time thanks in part to
its Snow Patrol-like intelligent story songs and emotional pop anthems. Die-hard fans will revel in
ample new material at Saturday’s show.

The apparently prolific Virginia outfit who managed to straddle Dave Matthews-style rock and the
rootsier sound that was regionally red hot during the late `90s returns on the
heels of the October release of its PledgeMusic-funded album “Constellation
Prize” - it's second record in a year.

The
Chapel Hill-based electro-house DJ and producer has gone from choice opening
act for some of EDM’s biggest headliners to top-billing on marquees himself,
charting his own singles, and remixing for Lady Gaga - and he does it all
without the benefit of a kitschy DJ name.

The
music business needs its characters, so bless the scantily-dressed,
Target-shopping, VH1 reality star come R&B singer who speaks her mind, pushes
buttons with a knowing wink, and is proud to be “doing me” on her long-awaited,
R&B No. 1 full-length “Rebellious Soul.”

To
one generation he was the frontman for the Modern Lovers. To another he’s that
guy that pops up and sings in “There’s Something About Mary.” To the peers that
have covered his songs and even written their own about him, Richman is a
revered, veteran songwriter who many credit with unwittingly influencing
generations of punks.

The
Grammy nominated psychedelic art-rock band hasn’t repeated the success of its
initial hit “Kids” with two follow-up albums, instead trading that early
electro-pop charm for endearing psychedelic moodiness. It comes across as an
act raised on Beck, Flaming Lips, and Pink Floyd - colorful, sometimes fun, and
strange (hence its powerful and disturbing recent video).